Method and system for improved routing of repair calls to a call center

ABSTRACT

Processing a communication received at a communications center over a communications network includes determining whether a sender of the communication sent previous communications to a communications center based on identification information obtained from the communication. Communication is routed to an agent, from a first group of agents, when it is determined that the sender did not send previous communications to the communications center. The communication is processed by generating a report by the agent from the first group of agents. Communication is routed to an agent, from a second group of agents, when it is determined that the sender sent send previous communications to the communications center. The communication is re-processed by retrieving an existing report by the agent from the second group of agents.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This is a continuation application of pending U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 10/313,614, filed on Dec. 6, 2002, the disclosure of which isexpressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF INVENTION

This invention relates generally to the improved routing of repair callswithin a repair call center for wireline telephone services.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In wireline telecommunications networks, telecommunications serviceproviders provide repair call centers for receiving and responding totelephone calls made by subscribers requesting repairs fortelecommunications equipment and services. In a typical repair callcenter scenario, telephone calls are answered in order by customerservice assistants (CSAs) who create reports of newly reported problems(i.e., trouble reports) for later referral to a technician for repair orprovide status information regarding existing trouble reports. When thenumber of calls to the repair center exceeds the number of availablecustomer service assistants, subsequent callers are put on hold in aqueue until a customer service assistant becomes available to take a newcall.

Often in repair call centers, calls requesting status informationregarding existing trouble reports (repeat calls) take longer than callsreporting initial trouble reports (first time calls). The reason forthis is that repeat calls often consist of a customer service assistantretrieving an existing trouble report for a subscriber, discussing thetrouble report with the subscriber and, if the trouble report is notresolved to the subscriber's satisfaction, discussing the trouble reportwith a supervisor. While this process is going on, other subscriberswaiting in the queue are kept on hold until the repeat call has ended.On the other hand, first time calls are generally shorter in durationrequiring only a description of the problem by the subscriber and thecreation of a trouble report by the customer service assistant. As aresult, the wait time for callers to speak to a customer serviceassistant is often increased by the time taken by repeat callers aheadof them in the queue.

Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a method and system ofimproving the routing of repair calls to a call center to reduce theoverall wait time of callers on hold in a queue.

It is with respect to these considerations and others that the presentinvention has been made.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the present invention, the above and other problemsare solved by a method and system for improved routing of repair callsto a call center.

A method and system are provided for improved routing of repair calls ina call center. A call routing system receives a repair call from acalling party and determines if the calling party is a first time calleror a repeat caller. If it is determined that the calling party is afirst time caller, the repair call is routed to a first group ofcustomer service assistants. If it is determined that the calling partyis a repeat caller, the repair call is routed to a second group ofcustomer service assistants.

In one embodiment, the determination of whether a calling party is afirst time caller or a repeat caller includes receiving identificationdata associated with the calling party, identifying the identificationdata associated with the calling party, and querying a customer databasefor customer data matching the identification data associated with thecalling party. If it is determined that the identification data does notmatch the customer data then the calling party is a first time caller.If it is determined that the identification data matches the customerdata, then the calling party is a repeat caller. In another embodiment,the identification data is saved as new customer data in the customerdatabase if it is determined that the calling party is a first timecaller to the repair center.

In a further embodiment, after receiving a repair call from a callingparty, the call routing system requests an input from the calling party,and routes the repair call based on the input. The input may be apredetermined key on a telephone keypad or a voice command from thecalling party.

These and other features and advantages, which characterize the presentinvention, will be apparent from a reading of the following detaileddescription and a review of the associated drawings. It is to beunderstood that both the foregoing general description and the followingdetailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are notrestrictive of the invention, as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating components of a wireline andwireless telephone network that provides an exemplary operatingenvironment for the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the system architecture of anexemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for routing repair callsin the repair call center described in FIGS. 1-2 according to analternative embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for determining thestatus of a calling party in the call routing method described in FIG. 3according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for determining thestatus of a calling party in the call routing method described in FIG. 3according to an alternative embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

It is advantageous to describe an exemplary operating environment inwhich the current invention may reside to improve the routing of repaircalls to a call center. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustratingcomponents of a wireline and wireless telephone network that provides anexemplary operating environment for the present invention. Referring nowto the drawings, in which like numerals represent like elementsthroughout the several figures, aspects of the present invention and theadvanced intelligent network (AIN) and an integrated wireless networkwill be described.

The public switched telephone network that evolved in the 1980sincorporated the advanced intelligent network (AIN). Some of thecomponents of the advanced intelligent network are illustrated inFIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a block diagram representing at least a part of theadvanced intelligent network (AIN) 100 of a typical local exchangecarrier integrated with components of a wireless network 150. Theadvanced intelligent network (AIN) uses the signaling system 7 (SS7)network for signal or system control message transport. The componentsthereof are well-known to those skilled in the art. The operation ofmany of the components of the advanced intelligent network is alsodescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,245,719 to Weisser entitled “Mediation ofOpen Advanced Intelligent Network Interface by Shared ExecutionEnvironment” which is incorporated herein by reference. The SS7communications protocol is provided in the document entitled “BellCommunications Research Specification of Signaling System 7,” DocumentTR-NWT-000246, Issue 2 (June 1991), plus Revision 1 (December 1991),which is also incorporated herein by reference.

A plurality of central offices are provided in a typical public switchedtelephone network. As shown in FIG. 1, each central office may includean electronic switch known to those skilled in the art as a serviceswitching point (SSP). These are indicated in FIG. 1 as SSP switches 12and 14. The number of SSP switches depends on the number of subscribersto be served by the public switched telephone network. An SSP is the AINcomponent of a typical electronic central office switch used by a localexchange carrier. The terms “SSP” and “switch” are used interchangeablyhereinafter and are understood to refer to a telecommunications switchhaving AIN capability and which may be utilized for connecting voicechannel circuits, including voice channel lines, such as trunk circuits30.

As shown in FIG. 1, central offices switches (SSP) 12 and 14 have aplurality of subscriber lines 18 and 20 connected thereto. Each of thesubscriber lines 18 and 20 is connected to a terminating piece or piecesof customer premises equipment that are represented by telephones 21 and24. SSP switches 12 and 14 are connected by a plurality of trunkcircuits 30. These are the voice path trunks that interconnect thecentral offices 12 and 14 and over which calls are connected whencompleted.

Each piece of terminating equipment in the PSTN is preferably assigned adirectory number. The term “directory number” is used herein in a mannerconsistent with its generally understood meaning of a number that isdialed or input by an originating party at an originating station toreach a terminating station associated with the directory number. Adirectory number, typically a ten digit number, is commonly referred toas a “telephone number” and may be assigned to a specific telephoneline, such as the telephone line 18 shown in FIG. 1.

Much of the intelligence, and the basis for many of the enhancedfeatures of the network, resides in the local AIN service control point(SCP) 42 that is connected to signal transfer point 34 via SS7 data link44. As is known to those skilled in the art, AIN service control points,such as AIN SCP 42, are physically implemented by relatively powerfulfault tolerant computers. Among the functions performed by the servicecontrol points is maintenance of network databases used in providingenhanced services.

Additional devices for implementing advanced network functions withinthe AIN 10 are provided by regional STPs (not shown), regional AIN SCPs(not shown), and a service management system (SMS) 46. The STP 34 isconnected to the SSPs via connections 36, 38 and 40. Both the regionalAIN SCPs and the local AIN SCP 42, which represent a plurality of localAIN SCPs distributed throughout the AIN 10, are connected via respectivedata links to the SMS 46. The SMS 46 provides a centralized platform forremotely programming the various AIN SCPs of the AIN 10 so that acoordinated information processing scheme may be implemented for the AIN10. The SMS 46 is implemented by a large general purpose computer andinterfaces to business offices of the local exchange carrier andinterexchange carriers.

The AIN SCP 42 is also connected to a caller ID with name (CNAM)database 46. The CNAM database comprises a plurality of directorynumbers along with associated names for the directory numbers. The CNAMdatabase may be used to provide a look-up database to provide caller IDservice. The CNAM database may comprise directory numbers from wirelinecustomers as well as wireless customers of wireless network 150.

In operation, the intelligent network elements of the AIN 100, asdescribed above, communicate with each other via digital data messagestransmitted over the network of digital data links. An SSP may beconfigured to interface with these network elements through the use of atrigger. A trigger in the network is an event associated with aparticular subscriber line or call that causes the SSP to generate adata packet message to be sent to a service control point. In order tokeep the processing of data and calls as simple and generic as possibleat central office switches, such as SSP central office switches 12 and14, a relatively small set of triggers are defined at the SSP centraloffice switches for each call.

The wireless network 150, such as a cellular network, comprises a mobileswitching center (MSC) 52. The MSC 52 is a switch providing services andcoordination between wireless user in network 150 and external networks.The MSC 52 may be connected to STP 34 to provide information to thewireline network and receive information from the wireline network. TheMSC 52 also communicates with a wireless subscriber, such as wirelesstelephones 54 and 55.

The MSC 52 may also be connected to a home location register (HLR) 56.The HLR is an SS7 database used to identify/verify a wirelesssubscriber. The HLR also comprises data related to feature and servicesthe wireless subscriber has. The HLR is also used during roaming toverify the legitimacy of the subscriber and to provide them with theirsubscribed features. The HLR 56 may also be connected to the STP 34and/or SCP 42 of the wireline network. In certain embodiments of thepresent invention, such as when the calling party is a wireless phonecustomer, the HLR may be used to provide the calling party's name andcalling party's number for the caller ID service.

For responding to subscriber repair requests for customer premiseequipment and services, telecommunications service providers provide arepair call center 50 for responding to subscriber inquiries. The repaircall center 50 includes computer systems, customer databases, software,voice response units, and an interface for connection to the telephonenetwork described with respect to FIG. 1. The repair call center 50receives subscriber calls from the AIN network via trunk circuits 32 and34 from SSP central office switches 12 and 14 respectively. Generally, arepair call center 50 is used to manage telephone calls from multiplesubscribers, prepare trouble reports describing subscriber problems withcustomer premise equipment, and refer the trouble reports to techniciansfor repair. The trouble reports are prepared by a group of customerservice assistants (CSAs) who receive information via telephone fromsubscribers describing problems with customer services or equipment. Thetrouble reports may include such information as the subscriber's nameand telephone number, a description of the problem, and an estimatedperiod for completing the repair. If all of the CSAs in the repair callcenter 50 are busy taking calls from other subscribers, subsequent callsare put on hold in a queue and routed to a CSA when one becomesavailable.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the system architecture of anexemplary embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, therepair call center 50 includes call routing system 60 for managing androuting calls within the repair call center 50 and customer database 70for storing customer data associated with callers to the repair callcenter. Subscriber calls are received from the call routing system 60from the SSP central office switch 12 over the trunk circuits 30 androuted based on data stored in the customer database 70. The callrouting system 60 is also functionally connected to the telephones incustomer service assistant groups 91 and 92 which receiving subscribercalls routed by the call routing system 60.

In illustrative embodiments of the invention, the call management androuting functionality of the call routing system 60 may be implementedin an Automatic Call Distributor (ACD) system or a Private BrancheXchange (PBX) with ACD functionality. As known to those skilled in theart, ACDs are specialized phone systems used to manage call traffic incall centers. ACDs typically perform the following functions: recognizethe calling number and answer incoming calls, and hold calls in a queuewhen all of the customer service assistants are busy. For example,callers to an ACD may hear a message such as “All of our customerservice assistants are busy. Please hold and the next availableassistant will take your call.” ACDs may also be programmed to routeincoming and held calls to customer service assistants.

Customer database 70 contains subscriber or customer data accessible bythe call routing system 60 for routing calls to the customer serviceassistant groups 91 or 92. The customer data may include suchinformation as the name and telephone number of a subscriber who haspreviously reported a problem to the repair call center 50. In anexemplary embodiment, customer the database 70 may be implemented in acomputer linked to the call routing system 60 over a local area network(LAN) or alternatively, the functionality of customer the database 70may be integrated within the call routing system 60.

In an alternative embodiment, the call center 50 may also include voiceresponse unit 80 which is functionally connected to the SSP centraloffice 12 over the trunk circuits 30. The voice response unit 80 is alsofunctionally connected to the call routing system 60. The voice responseunit 80 responds to DTMF tones (touch-tone) or spoken commands receivingtouch-tone or voice commands to control the routing calls within thecall routing system 60. The voice response unit 80 is also capable ofgenerating recordings of human or synthesized voices used to playrepetitive messages to a calling subscriber such as “Thank you forcalling ABC telecommunications. Press or say one for the salesdepartment. Press or say two for the repair department.” In the previousexample, after receiving a subscriber selection, the voice response unit80 would send the call to the call routing system 60 for routing to theappropriate department. The operation of voice response units are knownto those skilled in the art.

Having described an exemplary operating environment and the systemarchitecture for the present invention with reference to FIGS. 1-2, aflow diagram illustrating a method 300 for routing repair calls in arepair call center is described with reference to FIGS. 1-2. Forpurposes of the exemplary call flow, assume, for example, that a firstsubscriber of telecommunications services is calling to report a newproblem with customer premise equipment (hereinafter referred to as afirst time caller) and a second subscriber is calling for statusinformation on an existing problem with customer premise equipment(hereinafter referred to as a repeat caller).

Referring now to FIG. 3, the method 300 begins at step 305 and continuesto step 310 where call routing system 60 receives a repair call from asubscriber or calling party. At step 315, the call routing system 60determines the status of the calling party. That is, the call routingsystem 60 determines whether the caller is a first time caller or arepeat caller to the repair call center. The step of determining whetherthe calling party is a first time caller or a repeat caller is describedin detail in FIGS. 4-5 below.

After the determination of the caller status is made at step 315 thecall routing system 60 routes the call CSA group 91 or 92 based on thestatus of the call at step 320. For example, if it is determined at step315 that the caller is a first time caller, the call routing system 60routes the call to an available customer service assistant in CSA group91 if CSA group 91 has been designated to receive first time callers. Ifall of the customer service assistants are busy then the call routingsystem 60 will hold the call until an assistant in CSA group 91 becomesavailable. Similarly, if it is determined at step 315 that the caller isa repeat caller, the call routing system 60 routes the call to anavailable customer service assistant in CSA group 92 if CSA group 92 hasbeen designated to receive repeat callers. The method then ends at step399.

It should be understood that the many of the steps performed by the callrouting system 60 may also be performed in conjunction with the voiceresponse unit 80. For example, the voice response unit 80 may receivethe repair call from the calling party and determine caller status viaDTMF tones or voice commands which instruct the call routing system onhow to route the repair call. The step of determining caller statuswithin the voice response unit 80 is described in detail in FIG. 5below.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating a method 400 used by the callrouting system 60 for making the determination described at step 315 ofFIG. 3 as to the status of the calling party (i.e., whether the callingparty to the repair call center is a first time caller or a repeatcaller).

Referring now to FIG. 4, the method 400 starts at step 545 and continuesto step 410 where the call routing system 60 identifies identificationdata associated with the calling party. The identification data mayrepresent information provided by the telecommunications network callerID service, such as the telephone number of the calling party.

At step 415, once the call routing system 60 has identifiedidentification data associated with the calling party, the call routingsystem 60 queries customer database 70 for customer data matching theidentification data. As described in the description of FIG. 2, thecustomer database 70 may contain the name and telephone number ofsubscribers who have previously reported a problem to call center 50.

At step 420, the call routing system 60 determines if the identificationdata matches customer data in the customer database 70. If the callrouting system 60 determines that the identification data does not matchany of the customer data in the customer database 70, the call routingsystem 60 determines that the status of the calling party is a firsttime caller at step 425. The call routing system 60 then routes the callto a designated CSA group (CSA group 91, for example) for receivingfirst time callers. The call routing system 60 may also store theidentification data associated with the first time caller as newcustomer data in the customer database 70 at step 430.

At step 435, if call routing system 60 determines that theidentification data does match customer data in the customer database70, the call routing system 60 determines that the calling party is arepeat caller and routes the call to a designated CSA group (CSA group92, for example) for receiving repeat callers. The method 400 then endsat step 499.

In accordance with an alternative embodiment, FIG. 5 is a flow diagramillustrating a method 500 used by the voice response unit 80 and thecall routing system 60 for making the determination described at step315 of FIG. 3 as to the status of the calling party.

Referring now to FIG. 5, the method 500 starts at step 505 and continuesto step 510 where the voice response unit 80 requests an input inresponse to receiving a repair call from a calling party. The voiceresponse unit 80 may play a prerecorded message to the caller prior torequesting the input. For example, upon receiving a repair call thevoice response unit 80 may play a message such as “Welcome to XXXtelecommunications repair call center. If you have previously reported aproblem, please press or say 1. If this is a new call, please press orsay 2.”

At step 515, the voice response unit 80, after receiving the input fromthe calling party, determines the status of the calling party based onthe input. For example, if the calling party entered a “1” in responseto the prerecorded message, the voice response unit would determinedthat the caller is a repeat caller.

At step 520, the voice response unit 80 provides routing instructions tothe call routing system 60 to route the call to the appropriate CSAgroup 91 or 92 based on the input. The method 520 then ends at step 599.

As described herein, a system and method are provided for the improvedrouting of repair calls to a call center. It will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art that various modifications or variations may be madein the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit ofthe invention. For example, the functionality of the voice module 80 maybe integrated in the call routing system 60. Other embodiments of theinvention will be apparent to those skilled in the art fromconsideration of the specification and practice of the inventiondisclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for processing a communication receivedat a communications center over a communications network, comprising:determining, with a processor, whether a sender of the communicationsent previous communications to the communications center based onidentification information obtained from the communication, thedetermining including querying a database for user data matching theidentification information, wherein the sender of the communication isdetermined to be a first time sender to the communications center whenthe user data does not match the identification information; processingthe communication by generating a report by an agent from a first groupof agents when it is determined that the sender did not send previouscommunications to the communications center and storing theidentification information associated with the sender; and re-processingthe communication by retrieving an existing service report by an agentfrom a second group of agents when it is determined that the sender sentprevious communications to the communications center associated with theexisting service report, a determination that the sender sent previouscommunications to the communications center being made when theidentification information matches the user data, the user dataassociated with the existing service report and the communication beinga request for status information regarding the existing service report,wherein the existing service report is generated based on informationprovided by the sender, and includes an estimated period for completinga repair, wherein processing the communication includes queuing thecommunication when no agents from the first group of agents areavailable to process the communication and routing the communication toan agent from the first group of agents, without any input from thesender, when the agent from the first group of agents becomes availableto process the communication, wherein re-processing the communicationincludes queuing the communication when no agents from the second groupof agents are available to re-process the communication and routing thecommunication to an agent from the second group of agents, without anyinput from the sender, when the agent from the second group of agentsbecomes available to process the communication, wherein theidentification information provided by the sender further comprises anidentifier for the sender, a communication address for the sender, and adescription of a problem, wherein the problem relates to one of servicesand equipment, wherein the database stores the identifier for thesender, the communication address for the sender and the description ofthe problem, wherein the communication is routed based on data stored inthe database, wherein communication management and routing functionalityis implemented on a private branch exchange with automatic communicationdistributor functionality, and wherein the database is implemented on aremote computing device connected over a local area network.
 2. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein agents from the first group ofagents are automated.
 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein agentsfrom the second group of agents are automated.
 4. The method accordingto claim 1, wherein the agent from the first group of agents comprises avoice response unit.
 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein theagent from the second group of agents comprises a voice response unit.6. A communication routing system for routing a communication receivedat a communications center over a communications network, thecommunication routing system including a processor and a memory, anddetermining whether a sender of the communication sent previouscommunications to a communications center based on identificationinformation obtained from the communication, the determining includingquerying a database for user data matching the identificationinformation, the communication routing system routing the communicationto a first agent, from a first group of agents, that generates a reportwhen it is determined that the sender did not send previouscommunications to the communications center and that stores theidentification information associated with the sender, and thecommunication routing system routing the communication to a secondagent, from a second group of agents, that retrieves an existing servicereport when it is determined that the sender sent previouscommunications to the communications center associated with the existingservice report, a determination that the sender sent previouscommunications to the communications center being made when theidentification information matches the user data, the user dataassociated with the existing service report and the communication beinga request for status information regarding the existing service report,wherein the existing service report is generated based on informationprovided by the sender, and includes an estimated period for completinga repair, wherein the sender of the communication is determined to be afirst time sender to the communications center when the user data doesnot match the identification information, wherein the communication isqueued when no agents from the first group of agents are available toprocess the communication and routed to an agent from the first group ofagents, without any input from the sender, when the agent from the firstgroup of agents becomes available to process the communication, whereinthe communication is queued when no agents from the second group ofagents are available to re-process the communication and routed to anagent from the second group of agents, without any input from thesender, when the agent from the second group of agents becomes availableto process the communication, wherein the identification informationprovided by the sender further comprises an identifier for the sender, acommunication address for the sender, and a description of a problem,wherein the problem relates to one of services and equipment, whereinthe database stores the identifier for the sender, the communicationaddress for the sender and the description of the problem, wherein thecommunication is routed based on data stored in the database, whereincommunication management and routing functionality of the communicationrouting system is implemented on a private branch exchange withautomatic communication distributor functionality, and wherein thedatabase is implemented on a remote computing device connected to thecommunication routing system over a local area network.
 7. The systemaccording to claim 6, wherein the identification information is obtainedbased on input from the sender.
 8. The system according to claim 6,wherein the identification information is obtained without any inputfrom the sender.
 9. The system according to claim 6, wherein thedatabase is integrated with the communication routing system.
 10. Adevice for routing a communication received at a communications centerover a communications network, the device including a processor and amemory, and determining whether a sender of the communication sentprevious communications to a communications center based onidentification information obtained from the communication, thedetermining including querying a database for user data matching theidentification information, the device routing the communication to afirst agent, from a first group of agents, that generates a report whenit is determined that the sender did not send previous communications tothe communications center and that stores the identification informationassociated with the sender, and the device routing the communication toa second agent, from a second group of agents, that retrieves anexisting service report when it is determined that the sender sentprevious communications to the communications center associated with theexisting service report, a determination that the sender sent previouscommunications to the communications center being made when theidentification information matches the user data, the user dataassociated with the existing service report and the communication beinga request for status information regarding the existing service report,wherein the identification information is obtained without any inputfrom the sender, and wherein the existing service report is generatedbased on information provided by the sender, and includes an estimatedperiod for completing a repair, wherein the sender of the communicationis determined to be a first time sender to the communications centerwhen the user data does not match the identification information,wherein the communication is queued when no agents from the first groupof agents are available to process the communication and routed to anagent from the first group of agents, without any input from the sender,when the agent from the first group of agents becomes available toprocess the communication, wherein the communication is queued when noagents from the second group of agents are available to re-process thecommunication and routed to an agent from the second group of agents,without any input from the sender, when the agent from the second groupof agents becomes available to process the communication, wherein theidentification information provided by the sender further comprises anidentifier for the sender, a communication address for the sender, and adescription of a problem, wherein the problem relates to one of servicesand equipment, wherein the database stores the identifier for thesender, the communication address for the sender and the description ofthe problem, wherein the communication is routed based on data stored inthe database, wherein communication management and routing functionalityis implemented on a private branch exchange with automatic communicationdistributor functionality, and wherein the database is implemented on aremote computing device connected over a local area network.